Iron Revolution
by Chelley Murdock
Summary: Charlie's been keeping secrets from everyone, but the showdown with General Monroe finally forces her to reveal her hand and give everyone a bit of a shock. Rating for language.
1. Chapter 1

_The original idea just wasn't working for me, but as I was rewatching the first season of Revolution, episode 1X10 gave me a better idea. _

_I own neither the Iron Druid Chronicles nor Revolution. This is purely a work of fan fiction for general amusement._

* * *

"Mom, look at me." She waited until her mother's eyes met hers. "Whatever he's asking you to do, you can't do it."

"Is that so?" She saw Monroe gesture to the guard with the salt-and-pepper hair. She didn't think as she started moving, just began shrugging out of her jacket, ignoring the sound of the man taking out his side arm and checking that it was fully loaded. Her mother tried to get between them and the soldier, sounding protests, but was pulled aside.

"Mrs. Matheson, I'm sorry, but you need to choose which one of your children I'm going to kill."

Her mother called Monroe a son-of-a-bitch, which sounded about right. "Listen to me."

"Which one? The boy or the girl?"

She didn't have much left in the way of reserves. Her body had used up much of what she had on its own to repair the head injury. It had been a lot nastier than she had let Miles know. He didn't know how close she'd come to actually dying.

"I've seen the Militia kill dozens of people and if you help him they will kill hundreds if not thousands, Mom." It would be tricky, trying this fully clothed. She would need to be quick to get free from her shirt but she would most definitely have surprise on her side. She was already constructing the knots in her head, getting ready to act.

"The boy or the girl? Which one is your favorite?"

She'd done so well, keeping her secret. Her father had pushed somewhat when she had come back from going 'away' with Atticus and Granuaille, but she had never told him. Had never told anyone. She even kept her bindings hidden so no one would see, though the chances of running into anyone who would know what they meant were slim and none.

Her mother begged 'no'. "Some things are more important than family."

"Choose now!"

"Hey, Bass!" Everyone paused as she met Monroe's eyes. He arched a brow at her use of the nickname, an odd thing for her to do considering she didn't know him and certainly wasn't a friend or an equal. "Wanna see a neat trick?"

She used the last of her reserves to bind her form to that of a falcon. She moved at the same time, concentrating on keeping her wings close to her body so she could move through the neckline of her tank. She was aware of her mother's cry of surprise, of Danny's shocked curse, of the confusion and disbelief of the men around her.

She was most aware, however, of the shiny pendant dangling from Monroe's hand. She attacked him with claws and talons, surprising him enough that she was able to yank it from his grasp. She pushed herself up and used his shoulder to launch herself at the open door.

The hallway was tight, very tight. Her wingspan was almost too wide to fit without tilting a bit to the side which made flying straight less than easy. She was better suited to soaring, not flapping. Still, she had to get away. The shock of the men behind her was wearing off and she heard them give chase. A bullet to a body this small would hurt, but she hadn't trusted one of her larger forms to get out alive.

The hallway broke open to the center of the plant with the wide open space reaching several stories. This was better and she let her wings open wide. Keen eyes searched and she found an open window below. Tucking her wings to her body she dove for it while at the same time making herself into a smaller target. She slipped through the opening and into the open air outside.

Opening her wings again she went for altitude. She needed to get high enough she could soar or dive over the wall. As she rose up she saw three forms moving towards the power plant. Miles, Aaron and Nora. Excellent. She hoped they would bounce back more quickly than Monroe and his men. With determination she aimed for them, rocketing towards the ground.

Impact at this speed would be painful, but going back to her natural form was a 'freebie'. The spot she was aiming for put her about four or five yards in front of their path when she switched back to her usual self, rolling with the landing. The binding tattoos that ran down the right side of her body came in contact with the ground and she felt her strength surging back into her. She could have cried she was so happy to be back in touch with the earth.

"What the fuck?!" Miles was staring at her. They all were. Charlie took the pendant from her mouth, getting to her feet.

"Talk later, run now!" She ran towards them, heedless of her nudity as she grabbed Aaron by the arm and pulled him with her. "We need to get to cover." It was hard, so very hard, not to leave them behind. She reached out towards Aaron, the most vulnerable, and worked the bindings that would connect him to her, giving him her strength, speed and stamina. And then Aaron was running as quickly as she, both of them moving swiftly towards the treeline with a grace and agility that left Miles and Nora struggling to keep up. This felt wonderful! So right! After playing down her strengths and abilities for so long, to be out in the open like this was heavenly.

They got to the tree and Charlie kept going, encouraging the others to follow. She reached into the earth beneath them with a feeling of greeting. /Druid calls/shelter needed/where?/

Fairmount, the name of what was once the national park here before the Blackout and the name Charlie had learned to think of when speaking to the elemental of this particular ecosystem, responded quickly. /Fairmount greets Druid/Harmony/Shelter awaits./ She received an image of a cave system nearby. Fairmount noted underground springs available and enough openings in the natural ceiling to allow for sunlight.

"This way!" She veered off in the direction of the nearest opening, sending a request to Fairmount to cover their tracks. The elemental was more than happy to do so. She was even happy to cover the entrance of the cave after they were inside so they would be harder to find.

Miles was staring at the quickly moving vegetation now growing over the cave's mouth as Charlie snagged his pack. She could manage without extra light, but the others would probably like to see what was going on. She fished out the small candle lamp that he carried for just such an emergency and lit it. "We should be all right here. At least we should have time to regroup and figure out another plan of attack."

"Charlie, what the fuck just happened back there?" Miles was shrugging out of his coat and all but shoved it into her hands. She slipped it on and fastened it close. He was tall enough that it would at least protect her uncle's scandalized modesty. "And when did you get those?" He pointed a finger at the extensive tattoos down the right side of her body.

"About two and a half years ago. I kept them hidden because Dad was freaked out enough when I took off for those eight months."

"Those look like what the O'Sullivan's had."

Miles looked back at Aaron. "The who?"

"The O'Sullivan's. Atticus and Granuaille. They used to live in the same village. Charlie spent all her time with them and their five massive dogs." Aaron swallowed. "Then one day Charlotte and the O'Sullivan's were gone."

"I told Dad I had to go. He told me I couldn't, I said I was going anyway and that I'd be back." Charlie shrugged. "I kept my word."

Miles looked crankier than usual. "All right. Back up. Let's assume that you can turn into a bird, because we all saw that."

"Merlin Falcon, to be exact." He glared at her and she fell silent.

"So you turn into a falcon and soared out of a window. Why?" Charlie held up the pendant. Miles blinked. "You stole back the pendant."

"Not a lot of options. Monroe had that ghoul, Strausser, point a gun at mine and Danny's heads and told Mom to choose which one of us was going to die."

"Wait," Miles cut in, his face going pale, "Rachel's alive?"

"Yeah, and apparently she knows how to build an amplifier for this thing. One that will increase the range and allow Monroe to use all those toys he's been gathering." Charlie twirled the amulet by the leather cord strung through it. "I only had enough juice for one action, so I decided to go for the most surprising."

"Turning into a falcon and stealing the amulet."

She grinned. "Right out of Monroe's hand. I think he even yelped." She took in a breath and exhaled it. "So we'll have to come up with some other way to get Mom and Danny out." She turned and went back further in the cave. "There are a couple of springs in here. And there are several 'rooms' so we can get some sleep."

"Charlie." Miles scowled but she kept walking on as though she hadn't heard him. He gave a little growl in his throat and followed her. "Do you even know where you're going."

"Yep." She ducked through a five foot tall opening, one he had to turn sideways to fit through, and came into a room with a still pool. Crouching down, she stuck her hand in. "Cold. I wouldn't jump in, but it's safe to drink." She peered around, clearly thinking. "Jaffe."

"What?"

She sighed and turned to face him. "The amplifier Monroe wants Mom to work on. He said it was started by someone named Jaffe, but that Mom killed him before he finished it. Apparently she stuck a screwdriver in his chest."

Miles had come to a stop with his hands on his hips, his usual 'I'm awesome' stance. "Can't say that I'm really surprised by that. Your mother can be a real ball-buster when she needs to be."

"I'm getting that idea, but it got me to thinking."

"About what?"

"How did this Jaffe know how to build one? Maybe this," she held up the amulet, "isn't the only one of these out there."

Miles got it. "If this Jaffe had one, then Monroe may still have an amulet."

"And he's still got Danny to use to force Mom to build the amplifier." She grimaced. "Well, fuck. Shock is bound to be wearing off by now."

"Probably so, but I don't really see that we can do much about it. Any element of surprise we may have had is gone, now. They'll have security tightened." Miles realized how he sounded and winced. "But you made the right call, taking the amulet like that. It will buy Danny time."

"Yeah. Time." She had a contemplative expression. "I think I have an idea, but I need to make a call, first."

The terminology took him by surprise. "A what?"

"There's another room through that passage and about fifty feet back that's got a thermal spring in it. It's warmer and we can clean up there. I'd recommend bunking in there. Can you get Aaron and Nora settled in while I go do something?" She didn't wait for his answer, just took off back to the front of the cave.

** Early Evening **

Miles went looking for Charlie after a while. She was at the front of the cafe, checking the sky through a small gap in the foliage. "What are you doing."

"Waiting for it to get a bit darker. Then I'm going to sabotage Monroe's helicopters"

He blinked. "You're going to what?"

She looked at him. "The helicopters, they've got to be somewhere in an open space, right? I mean, they have to get up into the air, so no ceiling."

"Yeah, that would help."

She reached down and picked up a couple of rocks. "See this? Ordinary rocks. Natural objects. Right?"

Where was she going with this? "Right."

She held one rock in each hand and looked at them. He thought she was muttering something under her breath. The next moment, the rocks snapped together as though they could bear to be apart. She tossed them to him and he caught them in surprise. "Try to pull them apart."

He couldn't. It was as though they were fused together. "How did you do that?"

"By biding the molecules together. I can do the same with metals made from ores mined from the earth. Helicopters have metal parts, right? Gears and such?"

Now he was catching on. "You can fuse the working gears together so that they won't move, even if Rachel finishes the amplifier. Monroe's helicopters would be useless."

"At least until he scraped up enough parts to replace the ones I break. He'll be guarding the amplifier and the amulet. Shouldn't be so heavy on the helicopters themselves."

Miles had to hand it to her; that was clever thinking. "So what are you thinking?"

"Wait until it gets a bit darker, then I go under camouflage, fly in, do the sabotage, fly back here."

"Camouflage?"

She gave him a smile and extended her right arm. He watched as the tattoos seemed to shimmer and vanish. "I can do the whole body. It's not invisibility, in the light of day you look like a heat shimmer if someone sees you. But in the dark, if they see anything it's just... shadows. And it doesn't take effort to keep going."

"That's how you hid the ink all this time."

"Like I said; Dad was already freaked about the eight month hiatus. Didn't feel like pushing things." She let the camouflage go and the tats were visible again. Apparently she didn't feel the need to hide them any longer.

Miles drew in a slow breath. "So... what are you?"

She gave a small smile. "Druid. The real kind. And, no, history doesn't know anything about us. The problem is that real druids practiced an oral tradition, so when the Romans and the Church wanted to smear their reputations, there was nothing to rebut their propaganda"

He seemed to mull that over. "All right. What can a druid do besides fuse things together and turn into a bird?"

Charlie's smile got a bit wider. "Coax the earth to do things for us, we can fight, we can see the bindings and connections between the different parts of the natural world and strengthen or undo them. I actually have four different animal forms, by the way, not just the falcon. I can also turn into a doe, a dolphin and a Canadian Timber Wolf."

"A dolphin?"

"I didn't pick them. If so, I'd have gone with a horse and a big ass shark. Or at least a killer whale."

"That all?"

She shrugged. "As long as I have contact with the earth I'm faster and stronger than most people. I can run for days without tiring if need be. Without that contact, however, there's a limited amount of power I can hold, and once it's gone I'm tapped out until I get back to bare ground. That's why I only had enough for that one action. My body burned up a lot of what I had to take care of that head injury."

He seemed to take it all in. "This would have been good information to know before now."

She winced internally. "It's not something you really talk about with people, Miles. We're a secretive lot. There aren't a lot of us. To my knowledge, only four right now. The man who taught Atticus has an apprentice who should be pretty close to being ready for his bindings, but I don't know if it's happened yet."

She checked the light again. "I should be good to go."

"Alone?"

"Better that way." She started unbuttoning her borrowed coat. "Look, Atticus is on his way here. He may be here before I get back. Can't miss him. Curly red hair, same kind of tattoos, will probably have an Irish wolf hound with him. I tried to convey that we could use some provisions and clothes, so hopefully he won't show up empty handed."

She handed him his coat, apparently unconcerned by her own nudity. "Don't worry. I'll be fine." She shimmered and was gone from his sight, though he thought he saw a flickering shadow as the vegetation moved aside to let something pass.

Miles was... lost. His mind was having trouble wrapping around the events of today. Part of him, a rather large part, wanted to shield and protect his niece. It told him that she shouldn't go out there, potentially back into the lion's den, alone. Another part of him also recognized that what he had seen today meant that Charlie was the best qualified of them to do this. If she could get in and out without being seen, sabotaging the helicopters as she did so, so much the better.

He looked at the rocks still in his hands. No matter what he did, he could not pull them apart. A little smile quirked at one corner of his mouth. He'd love to see Bass' face if Rachel got the amplifier to work only to find that his toys were already broken.


	2. Chapter 2

Finding the helicopters hadn't been that difficult. They were kinda big, but they were surrounded by a concrete wall. As she expected, there was no ceiling. She would be able to reach them just fine.

She landed outside the wall briefly and 'topped off the tank', making sure she was at maximum reserves before lifting off again. No one saw the falcon as it lifted up, then soared back down to land on one of the machines.

She'd never seen a helicopter before the day they rescued Nora from that chain gang, and had no real knowledge of its workings. Binding her eyes to what Atticus always called 'Fairy Specs' she looked into the makeup of the thing. Much of it was man-made. She could do little with high polymer plastics and inorganic compounds, but she could also see the parts that were made from smelting natural ores. The steel, aluminum and titanium were all things she could affect. She went over the thing carefully, binding metal to metal so that gears and various working parts would not be able to budge even if they could get power to them.

The first one took the longest because she had to determine how and where to work. She didn't dare try to access the engine as lifting the cover might alert someone to her presence, but she could muck things up a bit to give Monroe a really bad day. After that, she moved to each one in turn, flying over the wall to replenish herself when needed.

** Back at the cave **

Miles waited in the front cave for Charlie's return. He kept bouncing back and forth between believing she'd be okay to thinking he should have forbidden her to go. He didn't truly believe he could have stopped her, but perhaps he should have tried.

There was a snuffling sound from outside. His fingers reached for the sword at his side when a large, shaggy head of grey fur poked through the curtain of ivy and vines that covered the mouth of their hideout. A second head, just as large but with a more cream colored coat appeared next to the first. From outside a man's voice called.

"Hail to those inside. We come in peace." Miles stepped back a bit to give himself room as the two very large hounds, he'd never seen an Irish Wolfhound before so wasn't sure if these were the right breed, came into the cave. A man followed him. He had a wild mop of red curls, a neatly kept beard and his right arm bore the same intricate style of tattoos as Charlie's.

Miles noted the hilt of a sword peeking up from behind one of the man's shoulders and the cautious, lethal look in the eyes. "Let me guess. You're Atticus O'Sulllivan."

"Right you are, my good man. And you must be one of the three people traveling with Charlie. The hounds smell her. Where is she?" The cream colored hound gave a plaintive whine. "Cuchulain here has missed her terribly."

"Atticus?" Aaron had come back up front, he'd been doing that every twenty minutes or so to see if Charlie had come back. The red haired man gave him a smile.

"Aaron! You got yourself out and about. Good to see it." The man tossed a bag in Pittman's direction. "Got the word you folks might be hungry." Aaron caught the bag with an oomph. "Granuaille even packed some of those yummy scones of hers for you."

"Uh... thanks. Good to see you again, too." He looked between Atticus and Miles as Nora came up behind him. "Uhm, you've met Miles, Charlie's uncle."

Atticus arched a ginger brow. "Miles Matheson? Aren't you supposed to be the one Ben and his family were hiding from?"

That cut, but it was true. "Ben's dead. And I left the Militia."

"Okay. Why?" The question was frank and direct.

"I had my reasons."

"I'd like to hear them if I'm going to throw in with you."

"And if you don't like the reason?"

"Well, then I'll crack Charlie over the head and drag her out of here. I didn't spend all that time training her for some cockbite to turn her into his personal assassin." He said it with a congenial smile on his face, but there was no doubt in his eyes that O'Sulllivan meant what he was saying.

Miles gave a slight nod. "Got to be too much. We started the Militia to try and bring order, then somehow became as bad as what we were supposed to protect the people from in the first place. I didn't like what we had become."

"So, personal regret and finally coming to your senses." Those piercing, too-old eyes still didn't look entirely convinced. "We'll start with that." He turned back to study Nora and gave her a smile. "Atticus O'Sulllivan A pleasure."

"Nora Clayton."

The hounds turned and looked at the opening of the cave, their tails wagging happily. "And looks like Charlie's home."

A moment later there was a shift in the vegetation curtain. A second after that Charlie dissolved her camouflage and was again standing naked in the cave. The hounds hurried to her, jockeying for attention. "Good to see you, Oberon. Cuchulain, I wasn't expecting you." She knelt down and hugged the cream-colored hound happily.

"I got tired of his whining, and we figured he's finally old enough to be trusted to have a human of his own." Atticus was smiling warmly at Charlie and the dogs. She looked up at him in surprise.

"Really? He's mine?"

"That's what he keeps insisting." Atticus shrugged. "Actually he keeps saying you're his, but it amounts to the same thing."

Charlie grinned and got up, wrapping her arms around Atticus in a fierce hug. "Thank you!" He hugged her back, rocking her a bit from side to side like you do when you're truly happy to see someone.

Aaron cleared his throat. "Uhm, Atticus, could you not hug Charlie when she's all starkers?"

The red-headed man laughed and pulled away. He unslung something from his shoulder and tossed it to Charlie. "Here, get dressed before Aaron has a heart attack or your uncle tries to gut me. Don't worry, Aaron. I'm a happily married man who is still insanely in love with his wife. Charlie's like a daughter to me."

"Just would rather have her clothed."

Charlotte pulled out some loose fitting pants that resembled the bottom half of a pre-Blackout martial arts uniform and a tunic with Celtic knot work embroidered around the neckline and down the sides under each arm. She pulled them on with ease. The pack also contained a pair of leather sandals that she slipped onto her feet. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you."

Cuchulain came up to Charlie's side, leaning into her for affection. The damn dog came up to her waist. She scratched into his fur with fond familiarity. "Missed you, too, handsome. Did you remind Atticus to bring food?"

"I've brought quite the feast. Shall we take this further inside and you can catch me up on what kind of trouble you've found."

He had brought quite the meal. Cold cooked bacon with tomatoes on soft, fresh bread. The scones were studded with apples and cranberries. There was a full flavored ale that Miles was certain was the kind that was mean to be drunk warm. Even the dogs were well fed, with servings of bacon and plump sausages.

"So, if I understand you, that pendant can turn the power back on in a limited range, but the power-hungry dictator up the road has your mother building a device that would increase it's range so that he could use helicopters, tanks and such. And you can't be certain that there's only one pendant so when I got here you were out sabotaging helicopters."

"I'm... pretty sure there is more than one pendant." Aaron waited until all eyes were on him. "Ben asked me to get his pendant to a woman named Grace, only when we got to her house there was no one there but evidence that someone had built a computer. Why build one if you don't have a way to power it?"

"And excellent point. So, Monroe has men. He has guns. His men know how to use said guns. And, he may soon have power if your mother agrees to give him what he wants. Anything else?"

"He has a ghoul." Only Atticus seemed to understand her. Charlie rolled her eyes. "I told you, Strausser."

Miles frowned. "I think the word you're looking for is 'sadist'."

"He's that, too, but he's definitely a ghoul. You may have never seen him eat someone, but trust me, he does."

Aaron turns a bit green. "That's... disturbing."

Atticus nodded. "Probably disenfranchised from his clan or group, or just walked away. Most ghouls are okay sorts. They tend to work in mortuaries, morgues or run butcher shops. Good chaps to go to if you need to make an inconvenient body disappear. But if this Strausser guy is working for Monroe, then he's probably on his own. In a group, they don't like to take orders from anyone but their clan leader. A fighting force like the Monroe Militia with the kind of body counts they rack up, it'd be an all you can eat buffet for a loner."

He studied Charlie. "How much did he see?"

"Just me turning into a falcon and taking off with the amulet. I've kept my bindings hidden since I got back from getting them. Fewer questions that way."

He nodded. "So for all he knows, you could be nothing more than a very talented witch or other type of magic user. That's handy."

Miles frowned. "Why is that handy?"

"Because a ghoul who is part of a clan or organized group is likely to keep his mouth shut about those of us who are a little more than human. Unspoken code and all that. A loner who may hold his loyalties to Monroe is more likely to blab. If he knows what a druid is, or recognized her for being one, then he'd be able to tell Monroe her weaknesses. You need a far different set of precautions for a witch."

** Inside the Power Plant **

"Danny, thank you for joining me. Please, have a seat." Monroe gestured to a chair situated in front of his desk here at the plant. The guards pushed the boy down into it. "I thought we might have a talk about your sister."

The boy's expression was sullen and angry. He was a paler, less impressive version than Charlotte. She had been eye catching even before she had surprised them with that... it was too impressive for a 'stunt'. Miracle, perhaps?

"What about her?"

"Well, you have to admit, seeing a beautiful young woman turn into a rather impressive bird of prey, some discussion is called for. So, tell me, how long has Charlie been able to do that?"

"How the hell should I know. I've never seen her do that."

"Really?" Monroe walked around his desk, flexing the fingers of his freshly bandaged hand as he did so. "You grew up with her, she practically raised you after your mother came here, but you want me to believe that you didn't know she could do something like that."

Danny's eyes looked at the white bandaged, a bit of a smirk touching his lips. "No, I didn't know she could, but I'm glad she can. How's the hand? Hurt a bit?"

Monroe's other hand shot out, gripping him by the throat and squeezing just enough to get his attention. "I want to know what your sister is capable of. And you're going to tell me."

"I don't know what Charlie can do. I just know she changed."

Monroe let up some slack. "How?"

"I don't know. Nothing you could point to. She went away for a while, and when she came back she was... different. She wouldn't talk about it, but there was something off."

Danny felt the gloved hand release him finally and Monroe walked away a bit, pouring himself a glass of something golden from a decanter. "What was different about her?"

Danny shrugged. "She was just... better. Better at hunting, at tracking. She used to help Dad's girlfriend, Maggie, with the medicinal herbs before she left, but when she came back she was better at that, too. Like she'd become some kind of master herbalist overnight. It was like she'd crammed about eight years of learning into those eight months. Dad tried to get her to talk about it, but she wouldn't."

"She had to tell him something." Monroe faced him, the glass dangling almost negligently from his fingers. "You don't disappear for the better part of a year and say nothing when you get back."

Danny frowned. "She didn't. Just... said she was fine and that he didn't need to worry." Those had been tense times, those months after her return. Dad was always afraid she'd take off again, but she hadn't. Not for more than a day or two. "She'd be gone a couple of days sometimes, but would always come back with game. Said she was going hunting. The village didn't care. We ate better after she got back."

"And that's it. You're sister disappears for months on end and comes back some wilderness expert."

"That's all I know. I didn't mind. It was either that or she smothered me all the time." He scowled. "I don't know how she did that. I've never seen her do anything like that before."

Monroe studied him for a bit, then flicked his eyes up behind him. He felt the looming presence of the man who had been holding a gun to him and Charlie before. The man who pulled his back molars out just for the fun of it. He felt the menace in the man's hand as he rested it on Danny's shoulder.

"Daniel, have you heard your sister speaking any languages other than English? Seen her reading any books with peculiar symbols or writings?"

Huh? "She speaks some other languages. Latin. French. Something she says is Old Irish. She reads a lot, but they're just books."

"What kind of books?"

"I don't know. The weirdest one was Shakespeare Dad said he was some famous writer centuries ago. There was a couple in town for a while who had a copy of everything he wrote. Charlie memorized it."

Monroe arched a brow. "Your sister memorized Shakespeare? How much of his work?"

Danny shrugged. "All of it. She and Atticus used to have these quote duels to see who could keep it going the longest. I couldn't understand much of it. Dad said it was an older form of English."

"Atticus?" Strausser's fingers tightened slightly. "Atticus O'Sulllivan?"

Danny stilled, a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Y..yeah. Charlie left with him and his wife when she took off. She came back; they didn't."

Monroe looked at the man standing behind Danny. "Strausser?"

"I believe I have a better understanding of what happened, Sir."

"Good. Take the boy back to his cell."


	3. Chapter 3

It had been Atticus who had convinced Charlie to avail herself of the hot springs in the side cave and to settle down for some sleep. Nora went with her, the women taking advantage of the privacy to get cleaned up.

"Here, have a taste." The red-haired man tossed him a bottle of something amber. Miles uncorked it and took a swallow. The whiskey burned pleasantly as it slid down his throat and Miles gave a groan of appreciation. "Good, huh? Power or no power, the Irish still are making the finest whiskeys to be had."

"You've been back to Ireland? Since the Blackout?" Miles passed the bottle to Aaron who took an equally appreciative taste.

"Of course. So has Charlie. It took a little less than five months to do her bindings. The rest of the time she was gone was mostly spent getting her used to them. Ireland, Scotland, the South of France, Australia, we hit a lot of places."

Aaron offered the bottle back to Atticus "How are they doing, the rest of the world, I mean?"

"The places where power wasn't all that common had little trouble with it, but the industrialized nations, they're struggling. They've all got their own coping mechanisms. The Irish are still making whiskey and ale. The French are still making the finest wines, going back to the same style and methods that served them so well in the past. Tokyo really suffered. So many people with so little land mass for the production of food. The government in China quickly crumbled and people started to flee the cities back into the country side. That'll actually do them a lot of good in the long run, getting away from all the pollution and giving Mother Nature a chance to heal."

Miles pondered this as the bottle made its way back to him. "Why her? Why Charlie?"

"Dumb luck. If the power hadn't gone out, I'd never have gotten her. Becoming a Druid hasn't been a valid career choice in centuries. It's hard work. You start young, ideally around twelve, and it's a good twelve years of study before you can even start doing the cool stuff. Charlie, she was a rare find. I found her when she was still only ten, and what others take twelves years to learn, she got through in eight. Would have been quicker, but you can't rush the physical stuff.

"That's because she's smart," Aaron added, taking his turn at the whiskey. "Scary smart. Really, scary smart. Charlie would have been one of those kids who started college when she was fourteen or fifteen. If the power hadn't gone out, she'd be at MIT right now breaking all my old academic records and probably working on her third or fourth doctorate." He shook his head. "I tried everything I could to reach her, but after the blackout there really wasn't much incentive for a mega brain like her to put that kind of intelligence to use. Everything was surviving."

Miles pondered that. "She got that from her parents. Rachel and Ben, they were both too smart for their own good. Hell, too smart for everyone's good." He made an all encompassing gesture. "This... all of this... I'm pretty sure it was because of something they were into. Something they were doing."

Atticus studied him. "You think your brother was the one who made the power go out?"

"Knew about it, at least. Called me right before it happened, trying to warn me." He took another swig of whiskey, bracing himself. Instincts told him he needed to play things straight with this man. Given a choice, Charlie would choose this Atticus over him. Maybe that would be for the better. Then again, maybe not. "For a long time Monroe and me were looking for Ben. We thought if he knew what happened to the lights, then he could get the power back on for us. I found them, invited Ben to join me out of respect."

"He blow you off?"

"No, Rachel came instead. She was stronger than Ben. He would have caved. Rachel never did."

Aaron's mouth was a little slack. "You? You're the reason Rachel left?"

"Gave Ben time to get him and the kids out of there." Guilt was chewing at him from the inside as he took another swig of the whiskey. "Later there was an accident. At least that's what I was told. I saw a body, mangled but the same basic build. Same hair. Face was unrecognizable, but I was told it was Rachel. Never occurred to me that Bass would lie about something like that. If I'd known... I wouldn't have left if I had known she was still alive. I wouldn't have left her there."

"You're a son-of-a-bitch." Atticus delivered it without any inflection, speaking it as though it was a truth. It was. "You'd have to be to do the things you've done. Oh, I'll give you credit that, in the beginning, you thought you were helping. It was chaos. People preying on one another. There used to be over seven billion people in the world; now there are less than two. I'm sure that you started off thinking you'd use your military training and skills to build a force to protect those who couldn't protect themselves, but it takes more than just military know-how to do that and to do it properly. You have to have compassion and the ability to step back and see when things are about to go too far. There are generals and there are leaders. Very seldom do you find both qualities in the same person. Now, you, you're a general. You can build an army, hone them into something deadly and fearsome, but what you lacked was a leader to temper you. Your buddy Bass doesn't count. Something's broken in that guy. He's another general, like you, and I've seen the aftermath of the two of you together, but you should have picked someone else to be your president."

"Hind sight is twenty/twenty."

"Your Republic probably would be a better place if you'd approached Ben differently."

"How do you figure that?"

"Because you and your man crush could have made Ben be in charge of the government himself. He would have tempered you both."

Miles gave a snort. "Ben wouldn't have wanted anything to do with that."

"Which is why he would have been a better choice than Monroe. Your brother had the qualities the two of you let be overshadowed by your penchant for violence. You forget, I knew your brother. People looked to him for leadership whether he wanted it or not. That village Monroe's lackeys found him in, he was the leader. And since he didn't want such power, he would have been far less likely to become drunk on it. If you'd let someone like Ben be the one in charge, you and Monroe could have built what you intended to build to begin with; a military force that actually protected the people instead of terrorizing them."

"What about Charlie?"

Atticus pondered that. "Charlie has quite a bit of her father in her. She pulled you out of whatever hole you'd dug yourself into, after all. She makes people want to be better, but what you've seen of her so far... that's mostly a mask. She's not as innocent as you think."

"How so?"

"Normally a new Druid like Charlie, she'd be exploring the world right now. Traveling, getting to know the various ecosystems, helping me replace the tethers between this world and Tir na nOg that were lost with the industrial revolution and deforestation Instead, she went back home to her father and brother. That's wasn't by accident. Charlie's spent the last two years making Monroe's men disappear whenever they got too close to home. Not the guys collecting taxes, but the ones who were being sent out specifically to find Ben."

"Making them disappear?"

"There's a lot of blood on her hands, Miles. The naïve little girl she showed you, that's the act. Keep her in touch with the Earth, and she's a better fighter than you. I should know; I taught her."

Aaron swallowed. "Charlie's been killing people? Wouldn't we have noticed that?"

"Not when you can ask the ground to swallow the bodies for you. At that point, you're just returning them to the cycle of life. They decay and breakdown, the nutrients returning to the soil. That area she was hiding in will have some good harvests and growth for quite some time thanks to her."

Miles felt a bit sick to his stomach. He had wanted to believe there was still something of that bubbly four-year-old in Charlie. There was also something a little relieved in him as well, because it turned out that he wasn't the one who was responsible for taking the innocence out of her eyes. "She's a good actress."

"She's good at a lot of things, but if we're going to get her family back, we're keeping her on the ground floor for this."

"Huh?" The sudden shift even took Miles by surprise.

"I'm older, have more experience, and I have a greater power reserve if I need to do anything fancy. I'll be with you. I'm going to guess helicopters aren't the only thing this guy has been storing up."

Miles shook his head. "When I was still with him, he was rounding up jeeps, Humvees and tanks."

"Those will be on the ground floor, probably inside to. That's going to be Charlie's job. She's still young. If she's there when we find her family and things go wrong, she could come down with an acute case of false invulnerability and do something stupid. I want to keep her out of the bulk of the action."

Miles could support that, but still. "Did you just finish telling me how she's been killing soldiers for the past two years?"

"She's been cheating for the past two years. It isn't hard to cut a man's throat when you can ask the ground he's standing on to hold him still for you. I know she can hold her own in a straight up fight, but no need to be cocky about it. And I've got a present for her when she wakes up that'll even her playing field if she runs into trouble. Would have given it to her when she got in, but she she and Cuchulain were busy bonding."

"She's actually keeping that small horse you brought?"

"You couldn't separate those two with a crow bar right now. I wasn't kidding about the whining. Cuchulain has considered Charlie his since he was a puppy." It was Atticus' turn at the whiskey again. "So, what's in are arsenal besides two Druids and a former General of the Monroe Republic who should have a good insight into our big bad?"


	4. Chapter 4

[That Miles guy, he smells kind of like you, but not quite. Not like you've been close to him, but like I smell kinda like Oberon and Orla.]

_He's my uncle. My father's brother._

[Oh. That make sense, then.] Cuchulain licked at her chin and settled back down next to her. [I missed you. I kept telling Atticus and Granuaille they should have left me with you. Look at all the trouble you got into without me here to take care of you.]

Charlie smiled and dug her fingers into the thick coat. _You're right. I should have asked to keep you. I didn't think you wanted to go, though._

[Well, that was just dumb. You should have asked.]

She smiled again and snuggled closer to the Wolfhound. The heat from his massive body was soothing, like an old familiar blanket she'd been too long without. For the first time since this all began, Charlie fell asleep.

** Following Morning **

Miles woke up to find that O'Sullivan wasn't there. His hand automatically went to his swords, suspicion growing in him that the man may be on his way to sell them out. Then he spied both of the massive dogs, one on each side of Charlotte, Cuchulain's head resting on her back and Oberon's resting against her hip. In sleep, Charlie's face held the innocence she should have.

"_There's a lot of blood on her hands, Miles. The naïve little girl she showed you, that's the act." _

There was movement behind him. Miles turned, sword at the ready too find Atticus holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "Easy. Thought you might want some breakfast."

"You went out for breakfast."

"Can't fight a war on an empty stomach." There was a 'hey' of protest as Charlotte's furry blankets abandoned her for whatever was in the bag. "Calm down, calm down. I got you guys something, too."

Charlie got up from her spot on the floor, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she made her way over to where Atticus and Miles were. "Dumped for sausage. Typical."

"Bacon, actually. From Manannan Mac Lir himself. I brought enough for everyone." He started unloading meats, cheeses and bread. "Got something for you, too, Charlie Girl."

He pulled a bundle of bright scarlet from his pack. "You brought my cloak!" She hurried to his side, kneeling down to skid the last foot or so and snatching the red fabric from him. "Thank you!" A frown crossed her face. "There's something inside."

"Gifts from the Tuatha de. One from Goibniu and one from Brigid."

"Seriously? Brigid? You two back on friendly terms again?"

"Well, she no longer attempts to set me on fire and she hasn't tried to kill my wife in a fit of jealousy, so things seem less hostile. But that's more for you than for me."

Charlotte gave a snort as she unrolled the bundle. Two swords were revealed, one long and one short. They weren't the swords the Militia had forged out of whatever metal could be found. These were more reminiscent of Old World blades with proper hilts instead of modified brass knuckles.

Miles frowned. "Do you even know how to use those?" He heard Atticus laugh.

"She's better than you, believe me on this one." Charlie had picked up the longer one and was studying it closely. Both weapons were ornate, looking more like something you'd hang on your wall for decoration than would actually use, but she handled the blades with respect as she peered at the knotwork that was worked into the hilt and along the center length of the blade. "Well?"

"Can slice through metal and armor. This on the hilt, though... bleeding? If I'm reading this correctly, a definite cut won't be able to be staunched, not even with sutures."

"Correct. The target will just keep bleeding internally until he's gone."

Miles looked from one to the other. "What?"

"You're talking about something created by members of the Celtic pantheon. Gods get an extra bump when it comes to making stuff. Go ahead and check out the one from Brigid."

Charlie did, resting the longer sword in her lap as she held the shorter one in her hand. After a bit there was a mischievous grin on her face. "No way." She gave the shorter blade a few twists in the air, watching as bright flame danced along the edges.

Miles paused with his makeshift bacon sandwich halfway to his mouth. "Did that thing just catch fire?"

Atticus grinned. "It did. Among other things, Brigid is the goddess of fire and the forge. I suspect she didn't want to be outdone by Goibniu. That reminds me, this is for you, too." He tossed something that looked metal and circular to her. Charlie caught it in her free hand. "You know what to do next?"

She studied the metal disc. "Befriend an iron elemental and see if I can get him to help me bind my aura to it."

"Exactly. In the mean time, just wear it as an amulet and it should deflect most magic thrown your way."

"What's the bright red cloak do?"

"Oh, nothing. That just appeals to my inner child." Miles gave her a blank look. "I told you one of my forms was a timber wolf."

It took a second, but then he laughed. "Little Red Riding Hood." She grinned in response.

"I've tried to talk her out of that thing since her bindings. It hardly blends in, but she won't have it. Pretty girl like her in an eye catching color like that, it's asking for trouble."

"This pretty girl with her eye catching cloak has lured in more targets than you realize."

"Told you. She cheats."

"It's not cheating; it's taking advantage of idiot men and their sex drives. It's not my fault if you can't think above the belt line." Both men gave an indignant 'hey!'. "Just sayin'."

Nora and Aaron roused at the scent of food and made their way over. The quartet broke bread, with the hounds begging probably more than their share of the bacon. Cuchulain remained glued to Charlie's side as though afraid to let her out of his sight again now that they were reunited.

"So what's the plan?" Charlie snagged more bacon for her sandwich and her new dog.

"Your uncle and I were discussing that last night. We're going inside the power plant and make our way up to locate and release your mom and Danny. You're going to stay on the ground floor and disable any other toys Monroe's been gathering."

"Ground floor? But what if you need me up top?" The idea seemed foreign to her. "I can fight, Atticus. You know I can hold my own!"

"That's not in question. I've got a greater power reserve and more than two thousand years of experience on you. You're good, Charlie, but this is more something for experienced soldiers. You've already pushed yourself to the brink with these guys and Granuaille would gut me if I let you get killed."

Aaron blinked. "I'm sorry, but did you just essentially say you're over two thousand years old?"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Yes, he did. He pre-dates Christianity, actually knows Christ personally and he fought with the Fianna as well as rode with both Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan."

"Which further solidifies my argument that I have more experience in fighting soldiers. You're job is to stay on the ground floor, muck up anything you can find like you did with the helicopters and get outside to open ground if it looks like you're going to have to fight." She opened her mouth to protest again but he cut her off with a gesture. "It's that or I drag you out of this cave and straight to Manannan."

That shut her up, but she still glowered. Nora frowned. "Who's Manannan?"

"Another member of the Celtic pantheon, The Old Man of the Sea. Charlie here adores him like he was her grandfather and she wouldn't dare turn down his hospitality. If I drop her there, she'll stay put until I come back to get her." He gave the glaring younger druid a smug smirk.

"You suck."

"This is a case where the young and brash should bow to age and experience."

She tried a different source. "Uncle Miles..."

"Hey, I'm with the incredibly old guy on this one. The further you are from the actual fighting, the better. I doubt Bass will fall for that falcon trick a second time, and I don't want you anywhere near Strausser."

Seeing that she wasn't going to win this argument, Charlotte settled for munching down on her bacon and cheese sandwich, heedless of the face that Cuchulain had already snarfed half of it. Dog germs didn't seem to scare her.

"Now, how do we get into the power plant. Any ideas?"

Aaron spoke up. "I might know how. There should be an intake tunnel that leads right to the condensers."

Miles looked at him. "How big?"

"It would need to be large enough for maintenance crews to get in and out of."

"So there might be guards, but probably not many."

Nora was thinking, her brow creased a bit. "I've got some pipe bombs made up. Depending on the layout, Aaron and I can stay outside and listen for trouble. If anything goes wrong, we can blow open an exit."

"Capital idea. I do admire a woman who can properly handle explosives. This one's a keeper, Miles. I wouldn't let her get away if I were you." Miles let that one slide. "So, we have the beginnings of a plan, which is the best way to start because if you try to plan the entire thing something is going to disrupt your ideas somewhere."

"A rather hodge podge way to go about things, isn't it?"

"You were a general. Tell me, did any of your carefully laid out plans go perfectly?"

Miles considered this then shrugged. "Okay, I see your point, but I'm still not entirely comfortable with going in without at lest a more firmly set idea."

"That's why you're going in with me. I'm a pro when it comes to winging it."

** Late morning, same day **

The intake tunnel was where Aaron suspected it would be. There were no external guards to be seen, which struck them all as odd. Nora an Aaron stuck with the idea of staying outside, ready to blast open an emergency exit if need be.

"Miles, come here. I'm going to cast camouflage on you."

"That disappearing trick Charlie uses?"

"Yes, but it's not true invisibility You'll look like a heat shimmer ii anyone looks at you. This is going to feel a little strange, but don't freak out."

"Strange?"

Charlie supplied an "It tickles" before casting it on herself while still outside. Miles noted that she had shed her shoes, as had Atticus. The better to keep touch with the Earth, he suspected. So far he had just been rolling with the punches, but once they got Rachel and Danny back, he and Charlotte were going to have a long talk.

He felt the tickling sensation and looked down. He could no longer see himself, though he was aware of where his body was. Charlie and Atticus, as well as the dogs, were just distortions in the air. It reminded him of the old Predator movies, where the aliens had the light bending armor. Pretty cool, actually.

"Now, Charlie, remember; you stay on the ground floor. Find where they're keeping the rest of the heavy equipment. Look for tanks and transports and jack them up as much as you can, then get out of the building."

"Got it."

"Cuchulain, you make sure she does it, okay?"

Charlie huffed. "I said I got it." The bent lights that were Charlie and her new hound walked past them into the intake tunnel.

"You ready, Matheson?"

"As much as I can be. Wish we'd had something like this when I was in the Marines. Would have made Iraq a lot less stressful."

"Sorry, Ancient Druid Secret." Miles saw the hound shaped shimmer go in ahead. He and Atticus followed. They had discussed a somewhat clearer plan as they approached the power plant. The best option was to sneak past the guards, find Rachel and Danny and try to get them out with as little notice as possible. Fighting their way out was possible, but stealth was the least dangerous to all important parties involved.

The hard part was concentrating on the two barely-there shimmers in front of him. Miles had to be careful not to get separated from them. Oberon's wagging tail made it somewhat easier. The dog was clearly enjoying himself.

** Lower Floor; Holding Garage **

_Jackpot!_

[These look kind of like those things in the desert Atticus is always griping about. He unmakes them and lets the metal get back to the soil.]

_That's is an excellent idea, Cuchulain. _Charlie noted the lack of security in the area. Mom must have not yet gotten the amplifier working, so they hadn't had a chance to realize their helicopters were fucked up yet. She rubbed her hands together and looked at the half dozen humvees. _And pretty maids all in a row._

[I don't know what that means.]

_Old nursery rhyme. Mary Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells and pretty maids all in a row._ She grinned. _And these pretty maids are about to go down._

** Four floors up **

Miles stopped and crouched down, following the motion before him. This was weirder than snake shoes, but so far they had managed to buy pass several armed Militia members and had even crept past Bass sitting at his desk. That had truly been weird.

He watched as the dog shaped blur moved forward. He wasn't certain, but he thought that the pooch was sniffing the ground. After a moment he got that confirmed by Atticus' whisper. "Oberon says he smells a woman who reminds him of Charlotte. She's two doors down, but he smells two or three other people in there with her."

Miles nodded, forgetting that he wasn't exactly visible. "Probably guards to make sure she behaves herself." He rolled his shoulders. "Door closed?"

"No, it's open."

"Sneak in and take them down?"

"Great minds think alike."

They moved in under the camo spell. Rachel was working over what had to be the amplifier. Strausser was there as well, circling her like a twisted predator waiting to pounce. The other two men Oberon had smelled were two junior guards, each with a rifle. Miles watched Atticus move up behind the one on the far side and waited until he saw the movement of the shimmer. At that moment he thrust as well, both guards going down from sword strikes through the heart.

Strausser whirled, reaching for his pistol. Miles moved quickly, cutting across the hand so that the pistol dropped. He was about to go in for the kill when he heard, "Miles, wait." And just like that, the spell that had been hiding them was gone from him and Atticus. Oberon was still a distortion in the dim light.

Strausser noticed Miles, but the man visibly paled when he spied Atticus. The red haired man put the tip of his sword to Strausser's throat and said something in a language Miles couldn't understand. Immediately, Monroe's top interrogator appeared to be frozen in place.

Rachel was staring at them in shock. "Miles?"

"Yeah, it's me." She walked up to him and slapped him hard across the face. "Okay, I deserved that."

"You brought Charlie here."

"She showed up at my bar and wanted my help getting Danny back."

"She said you didn't hurt her. Is that the truth?"

He knew why she was asking and the shame of his past deeds cut into him. Still, he couldn't stop the half smile and tugged at his lips. "Believe me, Rachel, I don't think I have the skill set needed to hurt Charlotte."

"You don't," Atticus added before turning his full attention to Strausser. "Well, looks like Charlie was spot on. Monroe does have a ghoul. Why are you working for him?"

Strausser glared at the man, but he answered. "My clan didn't approve of my... predilections. They were planning to kill me, so I left. The Militia was a good fit for me and Monroe appreciates my skills."

"What did you tell him about Charlotte?"

"We questioned the boy. When he let your name slip, I realized what she was. I told him she was a Druid but that she couldn't have gotten her bindings for more than a year or so. He wants the girl and wanted to know how to capture her. I advised him to get her back inside the building and keep wounding her until her body used up her magic, then it would be a matter of keeping her away from direct contact with the Earth."

Rachel looked from Strausser to Miles. "What's he talking about?"

"I don't understand it all, either. Don't worry, I plan to set her down for a good grilling later."

"What precautions did you take to keep her here?"

"We expected her to go for the boy. There are guards waiting for her arrival."

Atticus' face broke into a slow grin. "But you weren't expecting her to call in the cavalry."

Strausser's glare darkened. "No. If I had any indication that she's be calling on Siodhachan Ó Suileabháin I would have advised him to forget about the girl."

"So you do have a brain. Final question; where is Danny Matheson?"

"Holding cell, next floor up, number 305."

"Thank you. You have been most helpful." Atticus released him from whatever hold he had, then quickly ran the sword through the man's neck. Strausser toppled over, his head rolling a few times.

"Miles? Who is that?"

"That would be the man who taught your daughter how to turn into a bird." He looked at Atticus. "What do you think? Charge on ahead or go back to stealth?"

"I like the charging idea, but they may hurt Danny as a last resort. Go back into stealth mode would be better. You'll need to hold Rachel's hand to guide her."

"Wait." Rachel went over to the amplifier, stepping over Strausser's corpse, to reclaim the amulet. "Just in case." She draped the cord over her head like a necklace. "So, now what?"

"Now Atticus makes us hard to see. It tickles a bit."

** Motor Pool – Ground Floor **

[I saw one of these, too. It was pretty rusted.]

_Not sure, but I think they're tanks. Heavy artillery and thick armor._ They hid behind one to let a sentry pass by before Charlie moved to climb up the massive thing. She had stepped outside for a recharge and had to wait until the coast was clear again to come back in. _Can't risk opening the top, someone might hear, but I can make it where the top doesn't open at all. Fuse the treads and wheels as well, and seal off the cannon._

[Oh, I bet this Monroe guy is going to be really pissed when he figures out what's happened.]

_That's at least part of the point._ She got started. He'd only managed to salvage four of these, so it didn't take long. _And I think we're done._

[Good. This place messes with my sense of smell.]

_I think it's all the grease in here. Let's go._ Druid and hound started to the door and pushed it open, but Charlie had forgotten to check for incoming. The door smacked soundly into a sentry coming back from an outside round. Nothing to do about it but charge forward.

She and Cuchulain ran, both still under the camo spell, but in the bright light of day the distortion was obvious with this much movement. They had some element of surprise because the soldiers didn't know what they were looking at. It was enough time for Charlie to get off the concrete and set foot back onto the earth. She felt the power surge into her and smiled. She kept her hound concealed but dropped her own camouflage so that she stood out like a vibrant cardinal. She turned back around to face the oncoming soldiers and flicked her hood back to reveal her face. "Come on, Boys. Time to play."

** Fifth Floor – Holding Cells **

Miles stopped with Rachel, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. Atticus and Oberon moved forward, taking advantage of the dimly lit hallway to sneak past all the guards there. Miles moved Rachel against the wall to keep her out of the way, waiting for Atticus to make a move. Just as before, once he noted the attack had started, he followed suit. The two of the together made short work of the ambush that had been set for Charlotte.

Atticus dropped the camo spell on Rachel as he went over to cell 305 and spoke in that strange language again. The lock gave way and the door opened. Rachel hurried inside and they heard Danny's voice as he called for her. They gave them a few moments to prove to one another that they were both okay before Rachel led him out of the cell.

"Now what?"

"Now we get you out of here."

Danny looked around. "Who said that?"

Rachel squeezed his hand. "I don't understand it either, but he's here with your uncle Miles and they're helping us. Just follow along."

Rachel kept hold of Danny's hand and felt Miles take her other one just before Atticus put the camo spell back on her and onto Danny. She let Miles lead her, though she was catching on to noticing the distortions in light and shadow that indicated someone was there. It was slow going, getting back down the five floors, but they made it. They were rounding the building when the sound of metal striking metal reached them.

"Damn it, something must have gone wrong." Atticus dropped his own camo spell as well as the one on Miles. "Let's see how much trouble she's in. Oberon, go get Aaron and Nora." He dropped the spell on the massive hound who immediately took off in another direction.

Rachel and Danny, still hidden, stuck close together. They stayed close to the wall, following the two men until the fight they heard came into view. Rachel gasped at what she was seeing.

There were six men trying to subdue Charlotte, and they weren't doing a very good job of it. Her daughter was moving with a speed and grace that defied belief, made all the more dramatic by the scarlet riding cloak that flared out with each turn. She had a sword in each hand, one shorter than the other. Her opponents were looking dreadful. There were a multitude of cuts and blood was soaking their uniforms. There were even a few burn marks which were explained when the shorter sword cut across a man's shoulder with a kiss of flame igniting from the blade.

Atticus stopped, holding a hand up to signal Miles to do the same. "Charlie, stop fooling around! End it already."

"Yes, Sir." Rachel watched in shock as her daughter got even faster and quickly dispatched all six opponents, some with quick and clean decapitations and some by slicing diagonally through their torsos. "Did you get them?"

"We got them, time to head back to the camp." Atticus motioned back where they'd left Rachel and Danny for the pair to follow them about the same time the dog came back with Aaron and Nora. The mismatched band started running back towards the tree line and towards the cave.


	5. Chapter 5

"You about done, Charlotte?"

"Just waiting for it to cool." Charlie poured the 'special tea' Atticus told her to make into metal cups. Everyone was given one. "Tastes as bad as it smells, so choke it down fast."

Miles sniffed of the tea and immediately wished he hadn't. It smelled like a pair of wool socks someone hadn't changed in about two weeks. "What's this for, exactly?"

Atticus smiled. "It will start your bodies mending any injuries you currently suffer. Will probably do a lot to help that liver of yours."

"My what?"

"You've just about pickled it properly. Drink up and you should start on the mend. We'll ask Fan to do a better job at healing when we reach our destination."

Nora held her breath and chugged her cup quickly. Rachel and Aaron did as well. Charlie had brewed it after all. Danny had a little trouble with it, but managed. Miles shrugged and downed his cup like it was a shot of cheap whiskey; quick and before he could register the taste.

"All right. Now what?"

Atticus looked them over. "Can you handle all five? You know them better. I can take the hounds."

She nodded. "Mom may be a bit tricky since I haven't seen her in so long, but the blood connection should help make some of that lack of knowledge up."

"Mother and daughter? Definitely."

Rachel looked from Atticus to Charlotte and back. "I'm sorry, but I need further clarification on what the plan is."

"Don't start over thinking things now, Mom. Just bear with us another hour or so and we'll be someplace safe where the Militia can't find any of us."

"And where would that be, Charlie? Where can we go in an hour that Monroe can't find us?"

Atticus gave his student a commiserating glance before taking over. "Irish Paradise. You'll be able to rest, recover, finish healing up and you'll be able to ask all the questions you want about the path your daughter has chosen to walk."

"But we should get going now." Charlotte tossed Miles his pack. Aaron and Nora were already grabbing theirs. "The tree we need isn't far from here."

"Tree?"

Miles sighed. "Don't ask, Rachel. At least not now. It's obvious that they do things a little differently from what we're used to, but what they do got you and Danny out of that place and foiled Monroe's plans to get the power back on."

"Miles..."

"Just... go with it."

Atticus let Miles deal with Rachel. "I can take the hounds. I don't know the others well enough to get them through safely. Can you handle yourself and five others?"

"Sure, no problem."

"All right, let's go." Atticus and Charlie sent their dogs out ahead to confirm the area was clear before heading everyone out of the cave. They walked for at least a good forty minutes until they came across a massive black walnut tree in the forest.

"I'll take the dogs first so they can see what we're doing." Charlotte nodded and Atticus stepped up to the tree, the dogs following him. Each animal stood up on his hand legs, making them as tall as he was. They put one paw on Atticus' arms, which were touching the trunk of the tree, and their other paw on the tree itself. One second they were there, the next... they weren't.

Aaron blinked. "What just happened."

"Express ride to Tir na nOg. You'll each have to be touching my skin and touching the tree at the same time. I can pull us all through."

"He said he didn't know us well enough?"

"He didn't. I have to be able to kind of hold you in my mind to do this properly. He just met half of you, so he wasn't a good shuttle service." She flicked her cloak open and placed her hands on the tree. "Everyone crowd around; one hand on bare skin, one hand on the tree."

It was strange, but they had just seen that Atticus guy do it, so they followed suit. Once thy were all crowded around Charlie as instructed, there was a pulling sensation. One moment they were in the woods, the sounds of a Militia search party driving amongst the trees, the next...

They weren't sure where they were, really. It seemed like a lovely forest, but not the one they were just in. Atticus and the hounds were waiting, Cuchulain hurrying to get back to Charlie's side. "See, nothing to worry about?"

The rest of the group looked at Charlie in askance. Atticus was chuckling as he watched. "In the old days people thought Druids could teleport. That's not entirely true. We just have ways to cheat when it comes to traveling. There's still a little walking to be done from here, but we'll get there in no time."

"What about Monroe and the Militia?"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Mom? What do you think the chances that Monroe has someone like me to ferry his Militia here? We know our own numbers and we're more loyal to one another than any random Militia soldier."

"They walked for perhaps an hour longer. During that time they began to smell the salt air of the sea and eventually came across a home on a sea cliff. A man who looked both aged and young was waiting for them at the door, his smile warm and inviting.

Atticus was smiling two, even as both hounds ran past them. "Everyone, this is Mannanan Mac Lir, Member of the Tuatha de Dannan and the Old Man of the Sea. I am hoping he will grant us his hospitality."

"My house is always open to you and your friends, Lad. And you've brought our Charlotte back to us as well." Charlie walked straight into the man's arms and Miles remember how Atticus equated her feelings for the stranger of that as a beloved grandparent. "You all look weary and battered. Please, be welcomed into my home so that we may tend to your pains."

And that was how Charlie rescued her family and got them to safety. The time in Tir na nOg was only temporary, as she, Atticus and Atticus' wife Granuaille discussed places on earth where Danny, Rachel and Miles could be hidden. The choices seemed almost limitless and the rest of the family learned that, apparently, Charlie really could take them anywhere in the world they wanted, within limits. Apparently Druids weren't exactly welcomed in Egypt for some reason.

They met Fan, Mannanan's wife, and a more loving soul they had never known. She saw to it that they were well fed and that was when it finally dawned on Miles that the bacon Atticus had been feeding them while in the cave was more than just bacon. It healed as well as nourished, explaining how he had been able to keep going in spite of his aches and pains.

Sometime in the evening, Atticus approached him with a jug of some more of that amazing ale. "I applaud your restraint, but I know you're gut it burning with questions. Go ask Charlie to show you the cliffs. You can speak freely there. Ask her whatever you want. She has the time to answer you, now."

Miles said nothing, just took the proffered jug and looked to find Charlotte already at the door, her scarlet cloak making her stand out in even this beautiful home. He nodded a thanks to Atticus and walked out into the twilight with his niece. She guided him to a sturdy outcropping of stones that let them see the waves break over the shore below and sat down with him, reaching for the jug for a drink.

Miles watched the water for a time, putting his thoughts together. When he spoke, it was on word; "Why?"

"Well, it all started with Aaron constantly bitching and moaning that I was letting my potential go to waste. I didn't see why I needed to learn anything past basic reading and math, there was too much work to do in order to survive. And then, one day, Atticus and Granuaille came into our town. They had Orla and Oberon with them, and Orla was close to whelping, requiring them to find a place to live." She shrugged. "For some reason, we just hit it off."

They spent hours there on the rocks, Charlie telling her story about how she became mixed up with a pair of Druids, one of them the last of the original order who had managed to survive and evade for over two thousand years, and how she eventually chose that path for herself. As the night grew longer, Miles eventually found himself smiling. He couldn't but feel a bit of pride in his brother's first born. She was one hell of a girl.


End file.
